I'm a Business of One

 

My program at Google got cancelled last week.

It wasn't much of a surprise. I saw it coming. But it still hurt. I was passionate about that program. I loved what we might accomplish with it. I was emotionally invested in its success. When it got cancelled, it felt like one of my kids died.

I was devastated for the next day.

But I picked myself up. Now I have to find another way to create and deliver value to my team.I take my queues from a couple of books I read over a year ago:

• The Economy of You, by Kimberly Palmer
• Business Model You, by Tim Clark (and dozens of collaborators)

These books helped me look at my career as a business of one person, even while employed by a company as large as Google.

I have customers (my teammates). I create and deliver value for my customers. I depend on key resources and partnerships to create that value. I have a value proposition. I must do some marketing so my teammates are aware of the value that I can provide. I even have to sometimes sell myself to my team or other stakeholders.

I run my own business. I am the captain of my enterprise. I own my destiny.